Supercut
by TodayIsTuesdayToo
Summary: Katara ponders the implications of Aunt Wu's prophecies. Kataang Week 2017 Day 5: Clouds


**AN:**

My Day 5 submission for Kataang Week 2017.

I couldn't finish yesterday's post because of some family things (good things.) I'll try to finish and upload it by day 8!

In the meantime, please enjoy this Katara POV! Remember to check out GreetTheDawn and Kataang-Week on tumblr for more about this one-shot and others.

 **Prompt:** Clouds

 **Song:** _Supercut_ \- Lorde

* * *

The wind kicked up tendrils of Katara's hair, hanging loose from its usual braid in anticipation of sleep.

A thousand feet up in the air on the back of a flying bison wasn't the most settling place to rest, but they'd decided they needed to keep moving. They'd spent too long in one place, getting mixed up in Aunt Wu's village. Part of it was her fault. She'd gotten swept up in the fortuneteller's predictions and stuck around a little longer than strictly necessary, trying to get as many details about her future as she could. In a way though, her distraction had been a good thing. If they'd left right after their first reading, they wouldn't have been around to find out about the impending eruption, and the village would have been destroyed. Besides, the break had given Appa the energy to travel longer than they usually could.

Sokka let out a loud snort, making her jump. Aang's head whipped around, also startled by the sudden noise. His eyes landed on hers and she looked away quickly, pretending she hadn't been staring at the back of his head of the past ten minutes.

"Oh, Katara," he said with a wide yawn. "I thought you were asleep."

"Oh, um, I was." She rubbed her eyes, feigning that she just woke up. "Silly Sokka has always been a restless sleeper."

"Well, you should rest. We've got a long way to go."

"So should you," Katara countered. "You look like you could use some shut-eye. Besides, you never know when the next crazy thing will keep us on our feet for days on end."

He let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. We do get into some strange messes, huh? I'm okay, though. I'll sleep in the morning. Someone's gotta keep Appa company." He patted the bison's head and got an affectionate grumble back.

She nodded. "Okay. Well if you two get lonely, wake me up."

Aang smiled. "Don't worry about it. Goodnight, Katara." He turned back around.

She settled back into her bedroll with no intention of actually sleeping. "Goodnight, Aang."

Sokka snored again and she glanced over at her brother with mingled affection and irritation. As she watched his back rise and fall with each breath, she remembered his words back in the village while they watched the Avatar tame an angry flow of lava.

 _'Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is.'_

 _'Wait, what did you say?'_

 _'Nothing. Just that Aang is one powerful bender.'_

When she'd first met Aunt Wu, the idea of knowing her future had seemed so… exhilarating. But now… There was no promise that Aang was the powerful bender the fortuneteller had predicted. Surely, she would meet many more powerful benders in her lifetime, and she could marry any one of them. But when she considered that he might be the man she was destined to be with… The possibility of certainty suddenly seemed so terrifying.

She glanced back to Aang. His tattoos seemed to almost glow in the moonlight, but it was a gentl glimmer, and his posture seemed so calm compared to when he was in the Avatar State. It was a beautiful sight to behold when he wasn't destroying things. She remembered then that the tattoos were a mark of an Airbending Master. He'd told her once that he was the youngest airbender in history to earn the arrows. Powerful, indeed…

He was so young, but at the same time he wasn't. He might still act like a little kid, but his time with the monks had made him wiser than most adults she knew, and he had memories of a time before the war, when cultures mingled in a way they hadn't since before her Gran Gran had been born. He alone had the knowledge and ability to change the world and bring it back to balance.

He'd already changed her world. Maybe he was exactly what she needed. Maybe he needed her too.

She remembered earlier, the day before, when they'd shaped the clouds into the symbol for volcanic destruction in order to trick the villagers into saving themselves. Standing beside him, shaping the clouds together, she had felt powerful too. When they bended together, she felt connected to him in a way she'd never felt with anyone before. She'd just assumed that's how you felt when you bended with another person, joining your abilities with another. But now… she started to think it might have something more to do with Aang than his airbending.

Funny that volcanic death could be the birth of love.

Did she love him?

She didn't even have to think. Watching him at peace beneath the light of the stars, she couldn't deny the warmth in her heart. But could she learn to love him in _that_ way?

That question wasn't as easy. It was all very confusing. But she supposed that asking your destiny to be simple was asking too much.

With a light sigh, she rolled to her feet and scooped up a blanket. Pulling it over her shoulders, climbed over the edge of Appa's saddle and sat down in the fur of his neck next to Aang. "I thought you looked a little cold," she lied, wrapping the blanket around him as well.

He tugged the blanket tighter, pulling them closer together. "Thanks, Katara," he murmured, leaning into her but not looking up. In the pale light she could see his cheeks redden the way she felt that hers were. Was it possible he'd had these thoughts too? "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

She shook her head, "I'll sleep in the morning. Can I sit with you for a while? I can only handle so much of Sokka's snoring.

He looked over and smiled. "You can always sit with me Katara."

She smiled back and rested her head on his shoulder. He felt so small next to her, but she could feel something bigger inside of him. He wasn't tall or bold, but he'd changed so much already from the boy she'd freed from the iceberg just a few short weeks ago. They were still so young, and she had a feeling he would grow from this cheeky kid into a man worthy of the respect of all nations. Would she grow into someone who could be worthy of that man's love?

All she knew for sure was that she wanted to be by his side to watch it happen.


End file.
